I get a lot of questions about education from friends, family, friends of family, family of friends and random people on the interwebs. One of the most difficult questions I get is "Why did you choose to opt your kids out of standardized tests?"

I can understand why some Americans have flirted with high-stakes testing. The authoritarianism of a single, test-driven ladder to economic success has an enduring power. But I don't understand reformers who gamble that they can grab the benefits of a single, controlled path to improving education outputs without losing our creativity, individuality, diversity, and innovative talents.

Administrators keep feeding teachers the basic nonsense that we could do much better teaching now that we have data we can use. So we keep giving tests. But learning has become something teachers try to sneak in whenever it's possible. And for students, enjoyment of learning is a dim memory.

To far too many of those who are making the decisions in our nation's schools, teachers are interchangeable parts; one is just as good as another. If they weren't smart enough to get out of the classroom and get into a higher paying job, they deserve whatever they get.

Your grades and who you are as a person makes all the difference; so there's no need to focus and panic about the test portion, just take it as it comes and do your best. I wish all of you who, like myself, are taking tests this year the best of luck.

You can't throw out all standards, or simply flail randomly, but building an national educational system based on national standardization is a fool's game. It is not what we need, and not what our students deserve.

In short, if you're a tenured teacher, you are an impediment to Excellence. The only way you can help children is by getting rid of your tenure, standing up straight and walking to Arne Duncan in Washington DC and saying, "Please sir, I want to be fired for any reason."

Gone are the days of snack time and learning to share toys with your neighbor, or learning through trial and error how to be kind. Kindergartners are no longer little humans on the cusp of their Big Adventure and learning how life works.

New York City's specialized high schools, all unionized public schools, are some of the leading academic institutions of their kind anywhere. However, the current admissions process is shortchanging people of color, among others.

The type of reading we demand students do on reading tests is a type of reading that isn't done anywhere except on reading tests. Well, and of course now, also, in all the classrooms that are trying to get students ready for these inauthentic reading tests.

Standardized testing. Two words. Five syllables. Every single teenager is aware of its infamous reputation. Whether it be the SAT, ACT, OAA (in Ohio) or another assortment of random capitalized letters, these tests are dreadful.

Ultimately, Common Core may provide the right course correction for U.S. education, but the devil is in the transition. Rather than focus first on modifying classroom instruction, we have allowed the testing industry to lead the charge of implementing the new ideas.

We are raising a generation of chronically sleep-deprived, anxious, caffeine-addled kids who believe that grades, rankings, AP and SAT scores, and -- of course -- college admissions are the ultimate measure of their worth.